On this episode of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson speaks with Jeffery Lorenzo Williams, real estate broker, creator of the shoe and fashion brand JLORENZO, and author of My Feet Are Off The Ground: Turning Tragedy Into Triumph, the story of his journey from suffering permanent paralysis from an accidental shooting to acceptance, autonomy, forgiveness and awakening.
A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Ep. 07, 2025)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 96th anniversary of his birth, featuring commentary by Coretta Scott King, the Honorable Andrew Young, and former President Barack Obama, as well as excerpts from Dr. King’s address at the 1963 March on Washington.
Chuck Bishop (Ep. 06, 2025)
On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Chuck Bishop, Senior Vice President and Head of Diverse Segments at Wells Fargo Home Lending, who drew inspiration from his mother’s lack of home ownership opportunities to create pathways to home ownership and financial freedom for people of color and individuals with low to moderate incomes.
A Tribute to the Late John Hope Franklin (Ep. 05, 2025)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the late Dr. John Hope Franklin, a native of Oklahoma, longtime professor and Professor Emeritus at Duke University as well as Fisk University and Howard University, and prolific scholar of African American history who profoundly influenced thinking about slavery and Reconstruction. Dr. Franklin died in March 2009.
Destin G. Bell, pt. 2 (Ep. 04, 2025)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson concludes his conversation with Destin George Bell, co-founder and CEO of Card.io, a gamified fitness app that turns outdoor cardio exercise into a community-based game of team turf war that gained credibility and investors after a successful featured appearance on the ABC-TV show Shark Tank.
Destin G. Bell (Ep. 03, 2025)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson begins a conversation with Destin George Bell, co-founder and CEO of Card.io, a gamified movement app that turns outdoor cardio exercise into a community-based game of team turf war that gained credibility and investors after a successful featured appearance on the ABC-TV show Shark Tank.
Chanel Dupree (Ep. 02, 2025)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Chanel Dupree, an award-winning screenwriter and director, whose recent documentary, You Think You Grown: Dismantling Adultification, which addresses issues of racial and gender stereotypes, specifically the societal perception of African American girls sexually and physically mature beyond their years.
Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee (Ep. 01, 2025)
On this edition of In Black America, producer and host John L, Hanson, Jr. presents a tribute to the lives of the late Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, one of the most revered couples of the American stage and screen, whose careers spanned six decades and were distinguished for their work as actors and as activists. The interview was conducted in 1998, upon publication of their autobiography, In This Life Together.
A Tribute to Shirley Chisholm (Ep. 52, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents an interview recorded in 1982 with the late Shirley A. Chisholm, the former Congresswoman from New York’s 12th Congressional District, the first African America woman elected to Congress, and the first major-party African American candidate for President of the United States.
King Hollis and Lindell Singleton (Ep. 51, 2024)
On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with King Hollis and Lindell Singleton, co-directors, writers and producers of Quakertown, USA, a film about a thriving black settlement originally called Freedman Town, in North Texas, which was eliminated by malevolent political and economic forces in 1921.
T. Dallas Smith (Ep. 50, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with T. Dallas Smith, founder and CEO of T. Dallas Smith & Company, the largest African American-owned pure tenant representation commercial real estate country in America, with a focus on mentoring young African Americans in the commercial real estate industry.
Greg Kaplan (Ep. 49, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Greg Kaplan, founder of the Kaplan Educational Group and author of The Journey: How to Prepare Kids for a Competitive and Changing World. An internationally recognized college admissions strategist, Kaplan discusses his effort to help students and their parents prepare for the college admissions process.
Cheryl Tyler (Ep. 48, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Cheryl Tyler, a former Secret Service Special Agent who served on protective duty for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. She is the founder and owner of CLT3 Security Logistics in Washington, DC. and author of Trailblazer: The Story of the First Black Female Secret Service Agent to Protect the President and Her Fight for Justice.
Dr. Tameka Gillum (Ep. 47, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Dr. Tameka Gillum, Associate Professor of Community Health in the College of Population Health at the University of New Mexico, discussing the multilevel society factors that contribute to disparities in gun violence among African American communities.
James “JB” Brown (Ep. 46, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with James “JB” Brown, host of The NFL Today on CBS and Inside The NFL on Showtime, a three-time Emmy Award winner who in 2020 was elected into The Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and host of The Super Bowl television broadcast a record eleven times.
Dr. Louis Moore, pt. 2 (Ep. 45, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Dr. Louis Moore, professor of History at Grand Valley State University, co-host of The Black Athlete podcast, and author of The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans, and the Making of the Black Quarterback, discussing the pioneering African American NFL football players who changed the face of America’s game for generations to come.
Dr. Louis Moore, pt. 1 (Ep. 44, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host begins a conversation with Dr. Louis Moore, professor of History at Grand Valley State University, co-host of The Black Athlete podcast, and author of The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans, and the Making of the Black Quarterback, discussing the pioneering African American NFL football players who changed the face of America’s game for generations to come.
Dr. Tiffany Bussey (Ep. 43, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Dr. Tiffany Bussey, founding director of the Morehouse Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, a global model for assisting in the the development of minority entrepreneurship through scholarly research, training, and consulting services.
Sean Wilson (Ep. 42, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Sean Wilson, Senior Director of Organizing and Partnerships at Dream.Org., building one of the most transformational training programs in the nation, focusing on youth justice, voting rights, police reform and criminal justice.
Mark H. Morial (Ep. 41, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Mark H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization, about the Urban Leagues, latest Annual Report on the State of Black America, and about the league’s social and economic agenda.